2 Kings 12–19

12TH CHAPTER^a

¹Joash began to rule in Jehu’s seventh year as king of Israel, and he ruled for 40 years in Jerusalem. His mother was Zibiah from Beersheba. ²Joash did what the Lord considered right, as long as the priest Jehoiada instructed him. ³But the illegal places of worship weren’t torn down. The people continued to offer sacrifices and burn incense at these worship sites. 

⁴Joash told the priests, “⸤Collect⸥ all the holy contributions that are brought into the Lord’s temple—the money each person is currently required to bring and all the money brought voluntarily to the Lord’s temple. ⁵Each of the priests should receive it from the donors and use it to make repairs on the temple where they are needed.” 

⁶But by Joash’s twenty-third year as king, the priests still had not repaired the temple. ⁷So King Joash called for Jehoiada and the other priests and asked them, “Why aren’t you repairing the damage in the temple? Don’t take any more money from the donors ⸤for your own use⸥. Instead, use it to make repairs on the temple.” ⁸The priests agreed neither to receive money from the people ⸤for personal use⸥ nor to be responsible for repairing the temple. 

⁹Then the priest Jehoiada took a box, drilled a hole in its lid, and put it at the right side of the altar as one comes into the Lord’s temple. The priests who guarded the entrance put the money that was brought to the Lord’s temple in the box. ¹⁰Whenever they saw a lot of money in the box, the king’s scribe and the chief priest would collect and count the money that was donated in the Lord’s temple. ¹¹Then they would give the money that had been weighed to the men who had been appointed to work on the Lord’s temple. They used it to pay the carpenters, builders, ¹²masons, and stonecutters. They also used it to buy wood and cut stones to make repairs on the Lord’s temple and to buy anything else that they needed for the temple repairs. ¹³But no silver bowls, snuffers, dishes, trumpets, or any other gold and silver utensils were made for the Lord’s temple with the money that was brought. ¹⁴Instead, the money was given to the workmen, and they used it to repair the temple. ¹⁵They didn’t require the men who were entrusted with the money for the workers to give an account, because they were honest people. ¹⁶The money from the guilt offerings and the offerings for sin was not brought into the Lord’s temple. It belonged to the priests. 

¹⁷At this time King Hazael of Aram fought against Gath and conquered it. He was also determined to attack Jerusalem. ¹⁸So King Joash of Judah took all the gifts his ancestors Kings Jehoshaphat, Jehoram, and Ahaziah of Judah, had dedicated to the Lord, the things he had dedicated to the Lord, and all the gold that could be found in the storerooms of the Lord’s temple and the royal palace. He sent these things to King Hazael of Aram, who called off the attack on Jerusalem. 

King Joash Is Assassinated—2 Chronicles 24:24–27

¹⁹Isn’t everything else about Joash—everything he did—written in the official records of the kings of Judah? ²⁰His own officials plotted against him and killed him at Beth Millo on the road that goes down to Silla. ²¹Joash’s officials Jozacar, son of Shimeath, and Jehozabad, son of Shomer, executed him. They buried him with his ancestors in the City of David. His son Amaziah succeeded him as king. 

13TH CHAPTER

King Jehoahaz of Israel

¹Ahaziah’s son King Joash of Judah was in his twenty-third year as king of Judah when Jehoahaz,^ason of Jehu, began to rule in Samaria as king of Israel. He ruled for 17 years. ²He did what the Lord considered evil. He continued to commit the sins that Jeroboam (Nebat’s son) led Israel to commit. He never gave up committing those sins. ³So the Lord became angry with Israel and put it at the mercy of King Hazael of Aram and Hazael’s son Benhadad as long as they lived. 

⁴Then Jehoahaz pleaded with the Lord, and the Lord heard him because he saw how the Aramean king was oppressing Israel. ⁵So the Lord gave the Israelites someone to save them, and they were freed from Aram’s power. They were able to live in their homes again as they had done before. ⁶But they didn’t turn away from the sins that Jeroboam and his dynasty led Israel to commit. They continued to commit those sins. In addition, the pole dedicated to the goddess Asherah remained standing in Samaria. 

⁷Jehoahaz had no army left except for 50 horses, 10 chariots, and 10,000 foot soldiers because the king of Aram had destroyed the rest. He had made them like dust that people trample. ⁸Isn’t everything else about Jehoahaz—everything he did, his heroic acts—written in the official records of the kings of Israel? ⁹Jehoahaz lay down in death with his ancestors and was buried in Samaria. His son Jehoash^bruled as king in his place. 

King Jehoash of Israel

¹⁰In Joash’s thirty-seventh year as king of Judah, Jehoahaz’s son Jehoash began to rule Israel in Samaria. He ruled for 16 years. ¹¹He did what the Lord considered evil and never gave up committing the sins that Jeroboam led Israel to commit. He continued to commit them. ¹²Isn’t everything else about Jehoash—everything he did, his heroic acts when he fought against King Amaziah of Judah—written in the official records of the kings of Israel? ¹³Jehoash lay down in death with his ancestors and was buried with the kings of Israel in Samaria. Then Jeroboam claimed the throne. 

The Death of Elisha

¹⁴Elisha became fatally ill. King Jehoash of Israel visited him, cried over him, and said, “Master! Master! Israel’s chariot and horses!” 

¹⁵Elisha told him, “Get a bow and some arrows.” So he got a bow and some arrows. ¹⁶Then Elisha told the king of Israel, “Take the bow in your hand.” So the king picked up the bow. Elisha laid his hands on the king’s hands. ¹⁷Elisha said, “Open the window that faces east.” So the king opened it. “Shoot,” Elisha said, and the king shot. Then Elisha said, “That is the arrow of the Lord’s victory, the arrow of victory against Aram. You will completely defeat the Arameans at Aphek.” ¹⁸Then Elisha said, “Take the arrows.” So the king took them. “Stomp on them,” he told the king of Israel. The king stomped three times and stopped. 

¹⁹Then the man of God became angry with him. “You should have stomped five or six times!” he said. “Then you would have completely defeated the Arameans. But now you will only defeat the Arameans three times.” 

²⁰Elisha died and was buried. Moabite raiding parties used to invade the country in the spring. ²¹One day some people who were burying a man saw one of these raiding parties. So they quickly put the man into Elisha’s tomb. But when the body touched Elisha’s bones, the man came back to life and stood up. 

²²King Hazael of Aram oppressed Israel as long as Jehoahaz ruled. ²³But the Lord was kind and merciful to the Israelites because of his promise^cto Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. He didn’t want to destroy the Israelites, and even now he hasn’t turned away from them. 

²⁴King Hazael of Aram died, and his son Benhadad succeeded him as king. ²⁵Then Jehoash, son of Jehoahaz, reconquered the cities that Benhadad had taken from his father Jehoahaz. Jehoash defeated Benhadad three times and recovered those cities of Israel. 

14TH CHAPTER

King Amaziah of Judah—2 Chronicles 25:1–13

¹Jehoahaz’s son King Jehoash was in his second year as king of Israel when King Amaziah, son of Joash of Judah, began to rule. ²Amaziah was 25 years old when he began to rule, and he ruled for 29 years in Jerusalem. His mother was Jehoaddin from Jerusalem. 

³He did what the Lord considered right, but not exactly what his ancestor David had done. He did everything his father Joash had done. ⁴But the illegal places of worship were still not torn down. The people continued to offer sacrifices and burn incense at these worship sites. 

⁵As soon as he had a firm control over the kingdom, he executed the officials who had killed his father, the former king. ⁶But he didn’t execute their children. He obeyed the Lord’s command written in the Book of Moses’ Teachings: “Parents must never be put to death for the crimes of their children, and children must never be put to death for the crimes of their parents. Each person must be put to death for his own crime.” 

⁷Amaziah killed 10,000 Edomites in the Dead Sea region and took the city of Sela in battle. He gave it the name Joktheel, which is still its name today. 

King Amaziah’s Defeat and Death—2 Chronicles 25:14–26:2

⁸Then Amaziah sent messengers to King Jehoash, son of Jehoahaz and grandson of Jehu of Israel, to declare war on Israel. 

⁹King Jehoash of Israel sent this message to King Amaziah of Judah: “A thistle in Lebanon sent a message to a cedar in Lebanon. It said, ‘Let your daughter marry my son,’ but a wild animal from Lebanon came along and trampled the thistle. ¹⁰You certainly defeated Edom, and now you have become arrogant. Enjoy your fame, but stay home. Why must you invite disaster and your own defeat and take Judah with you?” 

¹¹But Amaziah wouldn’t listen. So King Jehoash of Israel attacked, and King Amaziah of Judah met him in battle at Beth Shemesh in Judah. ¹²Israel defeated the army of Judah, and the Judeans fled to their homes. ¹³King Jehoash of Israel captured King Amaziah, son of Joash and grandson of Ahaziah of Judah, at Beth Shemesh and went to Jerusalem. He tore down a 600-foot section of the wall around Jerusalem from Ephraim Gate to Corner Gate. ¹⁴He took all the gold, silver, and all the utensils he found in the Lord’s temple and in the royal palace treasury. He also took hostages. Then he returned to Samaria. 

¹⁵Isn’t everything else about Jehoash—what he did, his heroic acts when he fought against King Amaziah of Judah—written in the official records of the kings of Israel? ¹⁶Jehoash lay down in death with his ancestors and was buried with the kings of Israel in Samaria. His son Jeroboam succeeded him as king. 

¹⁷Joash’s son King Amaziah of Judah lived 15 years after the death…